Track & Field Headline

Friday February 10, 2012Women's 4x400 Relay Leads the Way in New Mexico

The
women’s 4x400 meter relay team, composed of Lanie Whittaker (Miami, Fla.), Alishea Usery (St. Louis, Mo.), Bria Goodson (Orange Park, Fla.) and Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.), capped off a stellar evening for the
Florida track and field teams at the Don Kirby Collegiate Elite, hosted by the
University of New Mexico at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

The
foursome ran an NCAA-leading 3:33.22 on Friday evening, becoming the only team to
automatically qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho.

“That
was a very special run by those four young ladies,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “They set a goal
when they came here of running an NCAA automatic qualifying time and that’s
what they did. We couldn’t be more proud.”

Overall,
the Gators had five event victories in New Mexico, along with eight personal
bests between Albuquerque and Seattle, Wash., where the distance corps began
the first day of the Flotrack Husky Classic hosted by
the University of Washington.

“Every
week, we want to come in and get better, and I think we did that today,”
Holloway said. “I think Marquis (Dendy) did a great job, I’m very proud of Kemal (Mesic) and Keely (Medeiros) as well.”

Freshman
jumper Marquis Dendy (Middleton,
Del.) won the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.82m/25-8, a personal best and
good for eighth all-time at Florida.

Junior
sprinter Jeff Demps (Winter Garden,
Fla.) sped his way to a season-best and an SEC and NCAA-tying 6.55, shared with
Auburn’s Harry Smith. Demps’ time will be adjusted for altitude.

“Jeff
was Jeff,” Holloway said. “He had a seasonal best but I think he would be the
first to tell you that he rushed it tonight. We need to work on being more
patient.”

Freshman
jumper Taylor Burke (Medina, Ohio)
and her winning streak did not take a break in Albuquerque, earning her fourth
straight high jump title by clearing 1.78m/5-10 on Friday evening.

Senior
thrower Kemal Mesic (Sarajevo, Bosnia) narrowly
missed his school record with a throw of 20.23m/66-4.50, finishing second, while
fellow senior thrower Keely Medeiros (Blumenau-SC,
Brazil) registered a season-best 16.61m/54-6 in the women’s shot put, placing
second and continuing her return from injury.

The
trio of women’s 60 meter sprinters, Usery, Goodson and Darshay Davis (Miramar, Fla.), impressed Holloway, especially
Davis’ performance not only in the 60 meters, but the women’s 200 meters as
well.

“I
thought the women’s 60 meter group did a great job,” Holloway noted. “Bria and
Darshay each had personal bests tonight and Alishea ran a season-best. I was
also pleased with Darshay’s PB in the 200 meters as
well.”

Usery,
Davis and Goodson recorded 60 meter times of 7.35, 7.40 and 7.56, respectively.
Davis then ran a personal-best 23.84 in the women’s 200 meters, good for fourth
place and her second-consecutive 200 meter PR in as many weeks.

Senior
thrower Fidela James (Jacksonville,
Fla.) registered a personal-best 20.48m/67-2.25 mark in the weight throw,
improving her standing at eighth all-time in Florida school history.

Over
in Seattle, the distance crew got off to a solid start, led by Florence Ngetich(Kenya)
and Callie Cooper (St. Johns, Fla.)
and their 5,000-meter performances. Ngetich turned in
the second-best performance in Gator history, placing sixth with a time of
16:15.18 while Cooper shaved nearly 23 seconds off her personal best, recording
a time of 16:32.68.

“I’m
really proud of Florence, performing the way she did in Seattle,” Holloway
commented. “And for Callie to have that kind of PB is nothing short of special.
Really pleased with both of their performances tonight.”

The
Gators continue their stay in Seattle as the second day of the Flotrack Husky Classic commences at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday
morning. Live stats can be found here.